Bones found at West property could belong to Bronze Age man

HUMAN bones found during a house renovation project in Wrington could date back to the Bronze Age and are those of a middle-aged man.

Bones were discovered in August during work at a property on the High Street of the North Somerset village.

Police were called to the scene along with the county archaeologist who deemed the remains to be ‘non recent.’

The remains were then handed to the county archaeologist to undergo further examination.

Analysis has now revealed that the remains are those of a man aged between 36 and 45 years old. The tests have been unable to date the age of the bones although it is believed – due to other items found at the site – they could be from the Bronze Age.

A spokesman for the county archaeology team said: “The human remains have been examined and appear to belong to an adult male who was aged between 36 and 45 years old when they died based on analysis of teeth.

“The skeletal material does not appear to have been excavated from a grave, as the bones were disarticulated. It is not known whether the individual was buried there or whether the remains may have been disturbed in the past, perhaps when the buildings in that area were first constructed.”

No other human remains were found at the site. Other artefacts were discovered including pottery and animal bones.

The spokesman said: “No further human remains were recovered by the archaeologists who monitored the remainder of the groundworks at the site in Wrington. Other finds were recovered however, including animal bone, pottery and metal objects.

“The pottery recovered from the site was not from a solid archaeological context, but one sherd may be of Bronze Age date. Other fragments were from Romano-British and postmedieval wares.”

All the artefacts are now being assembled into an archive which will go to the Somerset Museums Service as part of the North Somerset collection. The landowner has signed an agreement to make them available for future research.